In this episode of The John Henry Weston Show, host Johnathan Westendorf sits down with Gabby Macchio, a college student in the United States, to talk about her experience attending the Latin Mass and how it has changed her life.
00:00:00.000Truly from the bottom of my heart, I beg, beg any bishop that is watching this, recognize the suffering that Traditiones Custodis has caused.
00:00:10.380There was a video recently by a young lady. It went a little bit viral. It was on the Latin mask.
00:00:18.220It was asking bishops to allow access to it because of the recent restrictions.
00:00:24.140Restrictions in Chicago, which look like they're going to be going all over the world.
00:00:27.960It looks like they may want to end the Latin mass by May of 2023, but that's having real effect.
00:00:35.440Check out this little snippet from this video that went quasi-viral. Look.
00:00:41.740It completely changed how I viewed Jesus in the Blessed Document.
00:00:46.580I really think it instilled in me a deeper reverence and a deeper love for him.
00:00:51.720Now that was Gabby Macchio, and we've got her right here.
00:00:59.520Stay tuned to The John Henry Weston Show.
00:02:33.020Now, one of the things people say about the Latin mass, there's a lot of confusion about it, of course,
00:02:38.380but one of the things people say is that, yeah, it's just there really as a vestige for those old people who were really attached to it
00:02:47.800and could never get with the new program.
00:02:50.800Obviously, that doesn't pertain to you.
00:02:54.040How did you come to the Latin mass, and are there lots of other young people at it, or are you, like, the only one there?
00:02:59.540I came to the Latin mass, actually, by accident.
00:03:04.720I had been attracted to a more traditional liturgy initially, and so that's why I started going to my home parish, St. Teresa's.
00:03:13.560I'd been in another parish that had more praise and worship and, you know, things like that, and I just, it wasn't really connecting with me.
00:03:21.660When I found a more traditional liturgy, I was like, wow, you know, this exists.
00:03:28.160And so I started going just to the Novus Ordo there with more traditional music, and then one day, they had a Latin mass, and I didn't know it was in Latin.
00:03:37.820I showed up, and I was like, what is this?
00:03:41.240But then I was just awestruck by the great beauty of the mass and by the great reverence as well.
00:03:49.320And so I kept going, and I just found there was actually a lot of young people there who really loved their faith, who were very in love with Jesus Christ, and who I could share my faith with, you know, especially just the depth of the Catholic faith.
00:04:08.880And they really understood it, and yeah, a young adult community really formed there.
00:04:14.800There was about 20 to 40 people that after almost every Latin mass would go out and eat and things like that and just, you know, talk about our Lord and the saints and things like that.
00:04:24.900I was like, wow, other people want to, you know, talk about this stuff?
00:04:28.120Like, I'm not the only one, but yeah, and I honestly do not think it is for old people or is only attracting old people.
00:04:38.480I think it's actually the opposite, you know, parishes that have a little more, you know, modern music, I guess, like praise and worship and things like that.
00:04:46.240They only have older people, and then, like, the Latin mass will attract more young people than I've ever seen.
00:04:54.240I went to Mater Dei in Dallas, Texas, recently.
00:04:59.440I don't even think I saw a single person over the age of maybe 50.
00:05:04.660Everyone was a young adult, almost everyone, and it was packed.
00:05:11.000They had six masses on Sundays, and it was filled to the brim with people even, like, outside, you know, in a different room watching it on a screen because there was not even no space in the church.
00:05:56.800So something you mentioned is very interesting, that your appreciation for faith is shared by these young people, but it seems the young people who are at the traditional Latin mass, they're also very much more into their faith.
00:06:42.560Well, let's take a look at this chart.
00:06:44.340So they talk here about a survey of Catholics among those who attend the traditional Latin mass, and then among those who attend the Novus Ordo mass.
00:06:54.760And you were just speaking to this, so I thought it'd be a great opportunity to share this.
00:07:00.380Again, it was shared by the group PreserveTheLatinMass.org, and it talks about approval of, well, let's start with approval of contraception.
00:07:11.760Among those who attend the Novus Ordo mass, there's actually, it's greater than 50%, 51% of people who approve of abortion, which is really startling.
00:07:26.600But I guess when you figure that Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi both go to mass, as they call it, and are actually receiving communion, horrible as that is, but nonetheless, you have some indication that, yep, there could be a higher percentage.
00:07:43.980This stat sets it at 51%, but those who attend the traditional Latin mass, it's at 1%.
00:07:57.680Now, there's other stats as well that we'll get into, but I wanted to ask you right off the bat, does that square with what you've seen?
00:08:06.060You've said you've spoken to a bunch of the young people.
00:08:08.460Do they seem to jive also, not only with the beauty of the mass that you talked about, and, you know, the love for Jesus, but also with the moral teachings of the church?
00:08:22.340I'd say they're very, very faithful to the magisterium itself, especially to the dogmas of the church.
00:08:29.140And there was definitely a lot of, and we would talk about this, you know, discuss this.
00:08:34.060It's good to have fruitful conversations about social issues, especially when you're Catholic and you have to apply your faith to things like that.
00:08:42.300And pretty much everyone was pretty conservative as the church teaches, right?
00:08:50.140Because practically the Catholic church is the only one who that says that contraception is intrinsically evil and things like that.
00:08:58.860So, yeah, everyone pretty much agreed with that chart.
00:09:18.420And among those who attend the traditional Latin mass, it's at 2%.
00:09:22.440So, these disparities are truly stunning.
00:09:25.880Now, it is less people going to the traditional Latin mass, of course.
00:09:31.100But even if you take that into account, you're still dealing with a massive, massive disparity.
00:09:39.140Another indicator, those who attend mass weekly, among those who attend the traditional Latin mass, 99%.
00:09:48.280Among those who attend the Novus Ordo, it's only 22%.
00:09:52.620And then a proof of gay marriage, 2% among those who attend the traditional Latin mass, and 67% among those who attend the Novus Ordo.
00:10:04.840These figures are not surprising when it comes to the belief of Catholics in general.
00:10:11.220But that massive disparity for those attending the traditional Latin mass is truly stunning.
00:10:16.640And this, as you said, it sort of jives with your experience.
00:10:22.440But it's also interesting because there are a large number of young people who traditionally, in terms of the world's stats, tend to be more on the liberal end of things.
00:10:35.500Particularly on things like contraception, gay marriage, and that whole genre of ideas.
00:10:42.380And yet, here they are, with the true teachings of the Church in mind, and heart, and adhering to them.
00:10:52.340Yeah, and I would say that's pretty consistent with what I've seen in Latin mass parishes.
00:11:00.740Like I said, it's just overflowing with babies, which is very beautiful to see that, you know, everyone is open to life.
00:11:06.360And it's just, it's a beautiful environment to, yeah, to live the fulfillment of the Church's teachings, and the fulfillment of the liturgy as well.
00:11:16.940To pray as the saints have prayed for ages and ages.
00:11:20.260And that's one beautiful aspect of it.
00:11:23.820You're engaged in something that, for thousands of years, saints have been engaged in.
00:11:33.180But nonetheless, the faithful, the whole body of the faithful, for over a thousand years, had this as their mass.
00:11:39.400And we have exactly the same thing in the traditional Latin mass.
00:11:43.000So, what is it, you know, it's obviously a different subjective experience for everybody, but what is it specifically about the Latin mass that just, you know, really makes you love it?
00:11:59.720I mean, I think you can also look at the objective beauty of it, right?
00:12:03.560Because beauty itself can be an objective thing.
00:12:06.940And the Latin mass, more than anything, I think just contains, I mentioned this briefly in the other video, all the transcendentals that really lift up the mind to God.
00:13:35.820And I was like, wow, that makes a lot of sense.
00:13:37.300And I think that, that is beautiful as well.
00:13:39.260So, it's like, he's the leader of the people of God, going toward God, and we're all following and, and going with him.
00:13:49.000And the other way, I think it's not only distracting for the people, which, which it is in some ways, but it's also very distracting for the priest.
00:13:58.480He's having to put on a show, if you will, for the people, when in fact, this should be the most sublime moment of adoration of our Lord and performing the very functions that, that bring us back to Calvary itself.
00:14:14.060So, here you've gone on, you've gone public.
00:14:21.080That's a, especially as a young person, that's, that's kind of a courageous thing to do.
00:15:05.800And then I just felt in my heart, like, it was a call to, that I myself would be someone who would be able to do this for a Lord to, like, promote the Latin mass and to help him with anything.
00:15:19.220And so when I saw preserve the Latin mass and I was like, whoa, this is like the big thing that I've been kind of praying about, like, over something, someone else is organizing something to, to glorify God through this mass.
00:15:33.520And so I took the opportunity and, you know, again, I, I really don't, don't want any of this for, for my own attention or for, for my own glory, you know, all for the glory of God.
00:15:46.220And so that other people can, you know, form that relationship with him as I did through the Latin mass and, and to keep praying through the signs, keep learning how to pray through the mass as I did as well.
00:16:01.840So, um, my motivation really was just, um, to evangelize through the mass, to evangelize through beauty, goodness, and truth, um, as I stated before.
00:16:15.760Um, I know we've played a little clip of it already, but what's really your point?
00:16:20.760Because a lot of this doesn't pertain to laity.
00:16:23.000Yes, we have to stand up and do as you did to pray.
00:16:26.540And if we're called to do something else, uh, to do that, I think we're all called to contact our bishops and, as you did, beg from them the right that we have to offer the mass in the traditional form, which has been the form for centuries.
00:16:43.280And, uh, I think as Pope Benedict once said, you know, uh, what we're doing by seeking to cancel it is hating, uh, so much of our own history.
00:16:52.600But we're all called to do that, to pray, to express ourselves to our bishops.
00:16:58.640What's your message, though, to the bishops themselves?
00:17:03.320Um, my message would just be to please consider the free use of the Latin mass.
00:17:09.840Again, um, there's just been so much suffering unnecessarily caused by the restriction of the Latin mass.
00:17:16.040And, you know, why would you cut down a tree that is bearing good fruit?
00:17:21.200It, it doesn't, it really doesn't make any sense.
00:17:23.340Like, these Latin mass communities are booming and so many young people are, are bringing people into a closer community with Christ, um, to love him, to adore him, to have greater reverence and piety towards him.
00:17:34.880Um, so if, if somehow, if somehow it is possible, take all this to prayer and ask our Lord, um, to guide you in whatever position you may be, whether you're a bishop or a lay person or someone who works in the church, um, to promote, um, the free use of the Latin mass again, because it is so rich and so beautiful.
00:17:55.300And, you know, it has just caused so much flourishing in parishes.
00:18:01.720I, there's six seminarians, um, coming in to the diocese this year because they serve in the Latin mass.
00:18:07.740There's many religious coming from my parish, um, greater than any other parish that I've ever seen because of the fulfillment of the church's liturgy in, um, using the Latin mass along with the Novus Ordo, combining them and, and causing this flourishing, um, in these parishes.
00:18:28.060I pray that you'll be illumined, um, to help the faithful, to ease our suffering, to cause an oasis of prayer, of, um, goodness, of truth, of beauty, um, in the Latin mass.
00:18:40.780And I just hope that, yeah, all, all bishops will be illumined by Jesus Christ himself and that all will get to know his goodness through the Latin mass.